My Andzrej Bero Hobin which right now contains the last of my Tai Ping Hou Kui. The ash glaze is a blue-grey, but the blue tinge is lost in my poorly lit kitchen. This 100 ml Hobin is glazed inside so its excellent for Chinese greens. The matte textured glaze has an interesting slightly rough feel.

Chip wrote:I had a bag of Shincha SM from Kagoshima from O-Cha sitting here and decided to give this a go with the adjusted parameters. Outstanding!!! Better than any previous attempts with O-Cha's Kagoshima SM.

I would say that the Shizuoka offering is more veggie while the Kagoshima offering is sweeter. Both really good but different!

Sounds good! I have a bag of O-Cha's Kagoshima Sae Midori here just waiting to be opened. However, I'll have to wait another two weeks or so until I give it a try as I'm taking a voluntary abstinence from caffeine at the moment (dont' worry - it's just an experiment). As you can imagine, I'm really looking forward to having some sencha again! I'll be sure to give your brewing parameters a try.

It's always interesting to read about the adjustments others are making to their brewing habits. Increasing the amount of leaf is something probably all of us are doing over time. I know I am using more than I used to. I remember when I was overwhelmed by a 1:1 ratio with most teas a few years ago. Now that's my baseline. I've also not been preheating the kyusu lately or I just give it a quick rinse, so that it doesn't heat up all that much. I like it but maybe just because it's easier this way.

puerhking wrote:Tai Ping Hou Kui from DTH which is tasting pretty good on this hot day.

I find it interesting that pan fried greens seem to need a few weeks to a month, after opening, to really sing. Any one else notice this?

Yes, this can be the case IF they are fresh to begin with ... and well stored. I even noticed that sometimes a Chinese green can sit in its original package and improve. I am sure this is not a rule of thumb however, but I noticed this with a Zhu Ye Qing from TeaSpring a number of years ago.

One member noted to me that his uber fresh ZYQ was smoky and not particularly enjoyable. I did not open mine for around 9 months and it was an instant fave 5 Chinese green selection for me.

Revisiting the OTTI-17 gyo (I got double samples, so glad I did), enjoying Zencha's Ultimate this morning. It is bright, a little fruity, a little floral, a lot vegetal, and brewing it in my favorite Petr Novak shiboridashi seems to bring out the best in it:

puerhking wrote:Tai Ping Hou Kui from DTH which is tasting pretty good on this hot day.

I find it interesting that pan fried greens seem to need a few weeks to a month, after opening, to really sing. Any one else notice this?

Today I'm drinking organic Miyazaki asamushi from O-cha. This is my best session so far and it has been open for a week or two. The taste is deeper than I remember earlier sessions which leads me to believe it has improved with a small bit of aging. This is a pretty nice asamushi at a good price by the way.

But as Chip has said... the tea needs to be fresh at the start to enjoy the improvements some greens experience after being opened for a bit.

JRS22 wrote:My Andzrej Bero Hobin which right now contains the last of my Tai Ping Hou Kui. The ash glaze is a blue-grey, but the blue tinge is lost in my poorly lit kitchen. This 100 ml Hobin is glazed inside so its excellent for Chinese greens. The matte textured glaze has an interesting slightly rough feel.

So you're the culprit. I was a moment too slow - it's a very neat and pretty little piece. Watching the mail for cups, though; I love Andrzej's work. The teapots of his that I have are both glazed and very nice for greens.

Wow, in the middle of a wonderful session of Yamashita Jirushi (at least I think that is the right one, the most budget friendly of the Yamashita gyokuro). It is so good, and hitting the spot incredibly well on this cool fall day. Light persistent drizzle, leaves starting to change, and a temperature that is in the mid to high 50's. Mmmm gotta love fall!

I've been away from home for 2 weeks with no real tea, just chamomile tisane. It was the only hardship of a great vacation but now that I'm home I'm enjoying some Shi Feng long Jing in my beautiful Kim Eung Chui copper glazed pot and server. The photo doesn't do them justice, but its not bad for the camera in an iPad 2.

While I'm enjoying the tea it's never my favorite. I greatly prefer AnJi Bai Cha and TPHK among Chinese greens.